Philippines: death toll from Typhoon Bopha rises

The death toll from Typhoon Bopha that has ravaged the southern Philippines
his risen to more than 200 as rescuers battle to reach areas cut off in
flash floods and mudslides.

A woman carrying her child wades through a flooded road brought about by heavy rains due to Typhoon BophaPhoto: AFP/Getty Images

4:22AM GMT 05 Dec 2012

Typhoon Bopha, bringing wind gusts of up to 130mph, barrelled across the island of Mindanao, felling trees and blowing away homes before weakening overnight as it headed towards the South China Sea.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman and other officials described scenes of utter devastation with houses and other structures in some towns and villages ripped apart by the most powerful storm to hit the country this year.

"There are very few structures left standing in the town of Cateel," she told AFP, referring to a coastal town where 16 residents were killed.

"We need to rush to these areas body bags, medicines, dry clothes and most importantly tents, because survivors are living out in the open after the typhoon blew away homes and rooftops," she said.

Ms Soliman said the situation was as dire in the southern mountain town of New Bataan, where the military said at least 44 people were killed in flash floods and mud avalanches.

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"The bodies are left lying on the ground in the open in New Bataan and we don't want to risk the spread of disease."

Two provinces on Mindanao's east coast accounted for 82 of the deaths, according to Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.

Among the fatalities was a soldier who was part of a troop deployment sent to New Bataan in anticipation of the storm.

"It is quite sad and tragic. They were actually there to be ready to help our countrymen who may be in trouble," Mr Roxas said.

A boy rides a makeshift raft made from a banana tree after heavy rains brought about by Typhoon Bopha in Pantukan town, Compostela Valley (AFP/Getty Images)

Twelve other people were killed in other parts of Mindanao, while three residents died in the central group of islands known as the Visayas, regional branches of the civil defence office told AFP.

The military was scrambling helicopters and heavy equipment to New Bataan, where rainwater had gushed down from nearby slopes, creating a deadly swirl of rainwater, logs and rocks that crushed everything in its path.

The narrow mountain pass leading to the town was blocked with logs and boulders, said Major General Ariel Bernardo, commander of an army division in the area.

Parts of Mindanao remained without power and communications, with food and clean water in limited supply after Bopha carved a path of destruction.

Bopha made landfall on the eastern coast of Mindanao early on Tuesday, bringing driving rain and strong winds that forced 87,000 people to seek refuge in emergency shelters, according to an updated civil defence office tally.

It was the sixteenth storm this year to ravage the Philippines, which is hit with about 20 cyclones annually.

In December last year Mindanao was pummelled by tropical storm Washi, which killed more than 1,200 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.